Last.



' L A S T.

1 1 97,83 6 Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

HENRY F. LOEWEB, F ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

LAST.

Bpeciloation of Letters Patent.

Patented sept. 12, 1916.

spfncmon ma February 1s, 1911. semi no. siaous.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I Hanny F. Lonwnn, a'citizen'of the United States, and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lasts, of which the followin is a s ecification.

This invention reites to asts of the type in which the forepart and the heel-part are so connected that they may be moved relatively to each other, to facilitate the insertion of the last into a shoe, or .is removed therefrom.

In lasts of the type in question it has been common to employ either a hinged construction, by which the two parts may be moved angularly with respect to each other, about a pivotal axis at or near their adjacent surfaces, or a construction in which the two parts have a relative sliding movement along adjacent surfaces downwardly and rearwardly inclined from the instep to the bottom of the last. Each of these forms has certain advantages in construction and operation, and each involves certain correspondin disadvantages.

One o ject of the present invention is to produce a last which, in its mode of operation, is a combination of, or compromise between, the two forms just referred to, and which combines, with the simple construction and convenient operation of a hinged last, the strength and rigidity of a last of the sliding form.

Another object of the invention is to produce a last which will permit a shoe to be placed upon, and removed from, it with the eatest facility, and without any injurious nding or distortion of the shoe.

In previous lasts of the type in question the construction has been such that when the last is collapsed to remove the shoe 1t is necessary either to shift the heel of the shoe upon the heel part of the last, before the last has been suiiclently shortened to relieve the tension on the shoe, or else a severe and 1nuri'ous bending of the sole of the shoe has n necessary. This disadvantage has resulted from the location of the cylindrical axis about which the parts of the last are given their sliding movement. In the last of the present invention, however, this disadvantage is entirely avolded by curving the contacting surfaces of the parts of the last about a center so located as to cause an munediate shortening of the last, unaccompanied by any shiftin of the heel of the shoe upon the heel of te last, when the last is collapsed.

To the fore oing ends I em struction in wich the last is novel manner, namely, by a cut extending from the instep to the bottom of the last, and forming two interenga ng surfaces which are of a substantial y cylindrical curvature about an axis located. in the rear of these surfaces and near the top of the last. To connect the forepart and the heelpart so divided, I employ means, preferably 1n the form of a link, so constructed and arranged as to permit, first, u relative sliding movement of the two arts to cause a preliminary shortening of tide last, and then a rocking movement by which the last is brought to its fully collapsed position.

ere a link is employed as the specific form of connecting-device, I so arrange the pivotal points at which the link is connected with the two parts of the last that in the normal position of the parts the link acts to arrest the relative sliding movement thereof when the last reaches its fully extended osition, and I also employ a latch, of simple orm, which coperates with this link to retain the parts in such position.

In the accompanying drawingsz-Figure l is a side-elevation of a last embodying the present invention, in upright position; Fig. 2,is a longitudinal vertical section of the same last, 1n fully collapsed condition and in the inverted position in which it is used; Fi 3 is a similar view, showing the last artlally extended, and in position for the Enal sliding movement by which it is brought to fully extended position; and Fi 4: is a similar view, showing the last fully pxtelpded and locked in this position by the atc The illustrated embodiment of the invention is a last having a Wooden body of ordinary form. This body is divided, by a sawcut, to form a forepart 5 und a heel-part 6, with adjacent surfaces 7 The saw-cut is so directed as to form a concave surface on the forepart and a convex surface on the heelpart, these surfaces being substantially cylindrical about an axis of curvature which, as shown in Fig. l, is located at a point 8 in loy a conlvlded 1n a sion-member between the the rear of the surfaces 7, and near the top of the last.

While the saw-cut may be so made as to provide continuous cylindrical surfaces, it is preferably made, as in Fig. 1, to provide shoulders 9 on the two parts, near the middle of the cut, which engage each other when the last is in fully extended position, and assist in sustaining the strains to which the last is subjected when in use.

The parts 'of the last are held together by means of a link, in the form of a metal tube 10, located in suitable recesses in the adjacent surfaces of the forepart and the heel-part. The rear end of this link is pivoted upon a pin 11 fixed in the heel-part, while the forward end is pivoted upon a similar pin 12 in the forepart. The pin 11 is located below, and in front of, the oylindrical axis 8, so that the relative sliding movement of the surfaces 7 while in the general direction in which the link rocks about the pin, is not concentric with this pin. Accordingly, to permit such sliding movement, to the limited degree necessary, provision is made for lost motion between the link and one of the parts of the last. This may be done at either end of the link, but in the illustrated last it is accomplished by providing elongated openings 13 through which the pin 12 passes. When the last is in fully extended position, as in Figs. 1 and 4, the pin is at the outer ends of these openings, so that the link constitutes a tenparts of the last, to the fact that front of a plane the cylindrical axis 8 and the pin 11, as indicated by the line 18 in Fig. 1, the link is in a position in which its tension tends to prevent further sliding movement of the parts in the direction in which they move to extend the last.

To retain the parts against movement in and at this time, owing the pin 12 is located in passing through the opposite direction, I employ a latch 14- pivoted in the heel-part and having a beveled end adapted to enter an opening 15 in the link, so that the end of the latch may engage the inner surface of the link, as shown in Fig. 4, and thus prevent the swinging movement of the link which is necessary to permit the parts to slide from normal extended position. This latch is held in operative position by a spring 16, but it may be released by manipulation of an arm 17 extending to the top of the last.

When a shoe is to be placed upon the' last the latch is released, and the parts are then moved to the extreme collapsed position of Fig. 2. The shoe is then placed upon the last, which may be readily done since the last in this position does not fill the entire length of the shoe, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The forepart of the last is then swung downwardly, by a movement which is substantially pivotal about the pin 11, until it reaches the position of Fig. 3, with the surfaces 7 in engagement with each other and with the last extended so as to substantially fill the shoe. The final tightening of the last within the shoe is then effected by a sliding movement of the meeting surfaces of the forepart and the heel-part. During this movement the pin 12 traverses the openings 13, so that the movement is not controlled by the link, but rather by the cylindrical engaging surfaces. When the forepart has been brought fully to its normal or final position the latch engages the link as in Fig. 4, thus retaining the last in fully extended position.

In removing a shoe from the last the last is collapsed bv performing the movements just described in the opposite order.

It will be apparent that while the last just described has the simplicity of construction and the facility of operation of a last of the hinged type, it has, at the same time, the advantage possessed by the ordinary last of the sliding type, namely, that except for the saw-cut by which the last is divided, no material is removed from the last, and that the parts of the last, when in their extended position, have a full bearing from top to bottom of the last, thus making a much more rigid and durable structure than where, as in the usual hinged last, a large part of the material is removed above the pivot of the hinge in order to permit the necessary relative movement of the parts.

Owing to the location of the axis of the cylindrical surfaces of the joint near the top of the rear part of the last, the relative movement of the parts, when the last is colla sed, is in such a direction that the last 1s shortened and the tension removed from the shoe in the very first part of movement by which the last is collapsed, and this is accomplished also without the necessity of shifting the heel of the shoe upon the heel of the last. This will be apparent from Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 3 shows the last shortly after the commencement of the collapsing movement, or just prior to the completion of the extending movement, and it will be apparent that at this time, although the parts have been moved suiiiciently to relieve the shoe from tension, no shifting of the shoe upon the heel part of the last has occurred. It will also be apparent that no bending of the sole of the shoe is necessitated by either the collapsing or the extending movement of the last. Accordingly, the shoe may be placed upon, and removed from, the last with great facility and without any strain or injury to the shoe.

My invention is not limited to the embodiment thereof hereinbefore described the last, and connections,

and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but it may be embodied in various other forms Within the nature of the invention as it is defined in the following claims.

I claim 1. A last comprising a forepart and a heel-part having meeting surfaces substantially cylindrical about an axis in the rear of said surfaces and near the top of the between said parts, adapted to retain them in extended position and to permit a shortening of the last by relative sliding movement of said surfaces.

2. A last comprising' a forepart and a heel-part having meeting surfaces substantially cylindrical about an axis in the rear of said surfaces and near the top of the last, and a link pivoted to the heel-part at a point below said axis, and pivoted to the forepart at a point which lies, when the last is in normal extended position, in front of a plane through said axis and said pivotal point in the heel-part.

3. A last comprising a forepart and a heel-part having meeting surfaces substantially cylindrical about an axis in the rear of said surfaces and near the top of the last, and a link pivoted to the heel-part at a point below said axis, and pivoted to the forepart at a point which lies, when the last is in its normal position, in front of a plane through said axls and saidrpivotal point in the heel-part, said link having provision for lost motion in the direction of its length to permit a preliminary shortening of the last by relative sliding movement of said surfaces.

HENRY F. LOEWER.

Witnesses:

FARNUM F, Donsnr, L. THON.

- tion as it is defined in the following claims.

I@ml-9amin litters ,Patent Np. 1,197,836-

1. A last comprising a forepart and a heel-part having meeting surfaces substan tially cylindrical about an axis in the rear of said surfaces and near the top of the last, and connections, between said parts,

adapted to retain them in extended position and to permit a shorteningof the lasty by relative sliding movement of said surfaces.

2. A last comprising' a forepart and a heel-part having meeting surfaces substan-y tially cylindrical about an axis in the rear of said surfaces and near the top of the last, and a link pivoted to the heel-part atv a point below said axis, and pivoted to the orepart at a point which lies, when the last is in normal extended position, in front [swf] of a plane through said axis and said pivotal point in the heel-part.

3. A last comprising a .orepart and a heel-part having meeting surfaces substantially cylindrical about an axis in the rear of said surfaces and nearthe top of the last,

Aand a link pivoted to the heel-part at a point below said axis, and pivoted to the forepart at a point which lies, when the last is in its normal position, in front of a plane through said axis and said Apivotal point in the heel-part, said link having provision for lost motion in the direction of its length to permit a preliminary shortening of the last by relative sliding movement of said surfaces.

HENRY if. LOEWER.v

Witnesses:

V FARNUM F. DonsEY,

L. THON.

. It ie hereby certified that iin Lettere Patent Ne. 1,197,836, granted September l12, 1916, upon theapplication of Henry F. Loewer, of Rochester, New York', for an improvement in VLastsf anV error' appearsin the printed speciicationy requiring correction as follows: Page 1, line 1,2, for the words is removedi readr'its removalf and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that thesanle may conform to the'record of the case in the Patent Office.

" y signed end sealed thie 24th' ldey ef oeteber', A. Dt, 191e.

H. CLAY, Aaingmmiaeiener afnam. s

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,197 ,836, granted September 12,

1916, upon the application of Henry F. Loewer, of Rochester, New York, for an improvement in Lcsts, an error appears in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 1, line 12, for the Words is removed read its remo'valf and that the said Letters Patent should be rend with this` correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oice.

-Signed and sealed this 24th day of October, A. D., 1916.

F. W. H. CLAY,

' Acting Commissioner of Patents.

i [am] 

